Macao Government Tourism Office × BBC StoryWorks Macao Through Generations - Campaign Series

A six-part brand documentary campaign for the Macao Government Tourism Office, produced by BBC StoryWorks and shot on location across Macao with director Jon Lister.

The brief

A hero film plus five character portraits, positioning Macao as far more than a day-trip stopover: a city of culture, gastronomy, and genuine community, told through the people shaping it. The hero follows Vienna Sou, a Macao local, growing up in the city and now raising her own family there. Around her sit five portraits across Macao’s world-class integrated resorts: a spa director at Studio City Macau, the team behind The Londoner Macao, MGM’s Senior VP of Arts & Culture Cristina Kuok, the culinary director of Grand Lisboa Palace Stefan Müller, and three-Michelin-star chef Tam Kwok Fung at Wynn Palace Cotai.

The challenge

Six films, five locations, and a cast of high-profile subjects. I was on the project for 15 days, including scouting, planning and weather contingency days alongside the shoot. Every story meant its own appointments, permits and resort access. Time with each subject and location still had to be used well.

The approach

You plan hard, then you stay loose. Knowing the time per location would be tight, we walked in with a clear shot priority for each story and got the non-negotiable frames first. Across six pieces the look had to stay of a single family, even as the subjects ranged from a spa to a three-Michelin-star kitchen.

The schedule had room for weather problems, but we completed the planned work without needing all that contingency time. That gave us a chance to get to know the people we’d met, explore more of Macao and see the venues beyond the shot list. During a visit to one of the resort water parks, we had time to get in the water and pick up extra shots. Some of those moments made the final cut.

The result

A completed six-part campaign for the Tourism Office, with some unexpected footage that came from having time to explore. It also left me with something beyond the films: a small crew that had become close friends, and connections with the people whose stories we’d spent those days telling.